The familiar voices behind some of Korea's most beloved drama soundtracks are returning to the charts, reaffirming the enduring power of original soundtracks in television storytelling.

Singer Sung Si-kyung released “Anytime anyhow,” an original song for JTBC's television drama series “Surely Tomorrow,” on Dec. 4. It marks his first participation in a drama soundtrack in three years since “For A Long Time” from the 2022 series “Curtain Call.”


“Anytime anyhow” reflects the narrative arc of the drama’s protagonist Lee Kyeong-do, played by actor Park Seo-jun. Sung participated not only as a vocalist but also as a composer and producer for the track, with lyrics by Shim Hyun-bo. The pairing reunites Sung and Shim, who previously worked together on “Every Moment of You,” an original song for “My Love from the Star” (2013-14).

Veteran singer Choi Baek-ho, who drew attention earlier this year with “To the Land of Hope,” part of the soundtrack for Netflix’s “When Life Gives You Tangerines,” released “Still Here Waiting” on Dec. 6 for the third season of SBS’s television drama series “Taxi Driver” (2021–). The song captures the emotions of Park Dong-soo, a father suffering from Alzheimer’s disease who does not know that his son died unjustly and continues to wait for him. The character is portrayed by actor Kim Gi-cheon.

tvN’s hit series “Reply 1988” (2015-16) is celebrating its 10th anniversary by having cast members sing titles from the original soundtrack, which already comprises remakes of old songs. Actor Park Bo-gum’s rendition of “Everyday With You” (1992) was released on Dec. 19.

Last Friday saw the release of “Don’t Worry Dear” (2004), performed by actors Lee Il-hwa, Ra Mi-ran and Kim Sun-young, and “Hyehwa-dong” (1988) by actors Ryu Hye-young, Hyeri, Ko Kyung-pyo, Ryu Jun-yeol, Park Bo-gum, Ahn Jae-hong, Lee Dong-hwi and Choi Sung-won.

Foreign soundtracks — including Kenshi Yonezu’s “Iris Out” from the “Chainsaw Man” theatrical film, “Golden” from Netflix's “KPop Demon Hunters” and “Zoo” from Disney's “Zootopia 2” — have also been consistently popular on music charts.

“The success of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ has proven that soundtracks play a major role in building fandoms,” said pop culture critic Kim Hern-sik. “It seems production teams are now putting considerable effort into increasing the level of synchronization between soundtracks and storylines.”


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHOI MIN-JI [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]